Cursed
by robin X3
Summary: They say that power corrupts...that it is both a gift and a bane. Light Yagami realizes this. But it's too late...or is it? A Oneshot


Disclaimer: Me no own Death Note! T^T

~A/N #1~

It's really intense in the beginning...but...I promise it gets better! Enjoy?!

-1-

Gunshot sounds reverberated around the hollow walls of the empty warehouse.

Light stared, dumbfounded, at the slow swirl of smoke coming out of the pistol, up the hand that held the damned object, to the face of its wielder, expecting to see respect and recognition ….but was taken aback by the display of abject horror and loathing marring the face of his once loyal employee, Touta Matsuda.

Slowly, Light moved his head to look down at where Matsuda's stare was fixated, and that was when he saw it: the blood! Blood, rich, red and deep, was pouring out of multiple bullet holes in his body.

And it was then that the fact finally registered in his brain- Light was shot! Matsuda, that rash and impulsive **idiot**, had shot him!

This was it: Light Yagami was going to die.

He was convicted, tried, and found guilty. Now, there was no turning back. His end was near….The irony- Near! Even on the brink of death, Light found it difficult to ignore the whispers of sweet scornful sarcasm in his head.

To think- that his jury had been his entire faithful crew, and that his judge was just a kid, a novice- Light felt, not defeated, not subdued, not crushed. Oh no! What he really felt was disgraced, defiled. For what kind of a "god" was he: he who couldn't keep the faith and loyalty of his most rapt and trusted follower, Mikami Teru; he who couldn't call to aid his left hand, Misa Amane, at the time of his dire need? No, he, Light Yagami, was no "god." He was just another ordinary human!

'_Are you?' _a treacherous voice whispered inside his head, and Light found himself rooted to the spot.

Glimpses of his every kill, snippets of his every crime, flashes of his every sin, faces of every man he'd murdered in cold blood, names of the many innocents he'd slaughtered in the name of his "ideal", his twisted "justice"…every miniscule detail flashed past his eyes. It was similar to the first time he regained his memories of being Kira, but much different. That time, he'd been overwhelmed by the barrage of incidents, recollections of a life, a persona, that he'd donned and dropped out of, like a wearing a mask or playing a different character, and then coming back home. No feelings, no emotions were attached to those brief memories. For they were just that- memories, recollections of the past…yes they were vitally important, but were memories none the less.

But this time, things were different. In fact, this time was the polar opposite: this time he already remembered every fact, every occurrence, by each excruciating detail. What was new to him, however, was the guilt. The sheer force of the guilt had numbed his mind, paralysed his senses.

He collapsed, the burden on his shoulders too heavy for him to bear any longer.

Suffocation, he couldn't breathe.

Noises, he couldn't hear.

Blur, he couldn't see.

Oh but he could!

He could see it now; he could see it all, everything was so clear to him!

Before, the veil of power, the strength of being Kira, the allure of the Death Note, the temptation of the bloodlust, had blinded him, clouded his senses, dulled his conscience. He cared for no one, he showed mercy to none, and nobody stood on his path to glory. He, and only he, was the sole occupant of all his thoughts and actions. His universe, the mirage of the perfect, peaceful world that he dreamed to achieve as Kira, revolved around him and him only. Otherwise, how could he kill all these people? Was he even human anymore?

A monster!

With a shuddering breath, Light realised what a vile, power-hungry creature he'd become. And with the loathing, the revulsion, came the remorse. One last time….he wanted to apologise….and realised that he'd killed all those who deserved his apologies. Gasping, he fought to keep his breathing under control, his eyelids open…to no avail.

It was inevitable: Light Yagami was going to die.

His vision swam and a faint ringing noise resounded in his ears, while his lifeblood oozed out of his wounds, taking his life-force with it….. and Light found himself staring up at the ghastly pale face of the dead detective.

"I'm ….sorry…" Light murmured, the blood in his mouth slurring his speech to a gurgle, "…L." and let his eyes shut closed.

-2-

"Once upon a time, there was a very selfish, very greedy Prince, who lived in a lavish castle in a faraway land. He was handsome, rich, and intelligent, the epitome of poise, magnificence and grace- he appeared to be everything that a perfect prince should be.

"But, being the overly loved and adored prince of the kingdom, he always got what he wanted, when he wanted. Although he had everything, he still wanted more...and he cared nought for what means he used to get his way. The only thing he cared about, was winning...Ouch! I would prefer it if Raito-kun refrained from attempting to poke a hole into my stomach, and instead kept his hands to himself," L intoned.

"And I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to goad me into saying something that will help increase the percentage of me being Kira," Light grumbled.

"But of course. If Raito-kun insists to being Kira, then who am I to argue?" L said, unable to hide the amusement from his voice. 

"Damn it Ryuuzaki! I'm not Kira! And it was the Prince I was talking about, stop it!" Light barked, unable to hide the contempt any longer. He was stressed out enough as it was, being chained to the insomniac detective and awake for hours past his usual bedtime, and L was intentionally adding fuel to Light's ire.

"You wound me, Raito-kun! Whatever makes you think I was hinting at you being the prince of my little story?"

Light snorted.

L took that as his cue to continue, "Like with all other fairy tales, the King was oblivious to all the wrongs around him. How could he see, when he was blinded by his son's magical charisma? He was so spellbound that, when he had to sit for the Royal Meditation, he left his entire kingdom in the safe and capable hands of his beloved son.

"The King awoke after a thousand years, dreaming of returning to the same prosperous, flourishing country that he had left behind. But he returned to a barren, dying wasteland; the trees had been burnt down, the birds and animals had fled the forests, the rivers had dried up; hunger and famine ravished the kingdom, and more than three quarters of the country's population had been wiped out. And he found his son, sitting atop the gilded throne, relishing the spoils of the despair and desolation of his own people.

"The King was outraged. How could the Prince, his own son, his own blood, be so selfish, so arrogant, so greedy, so merciless, so cruel..."

L was interrupted as he ducked the fist was aimed at his nose. It seemed L had underestimated Light's perseverance to sleep deprivation. Oh well, Light had already passed the limit L had approximated Light to last, and L decided to give the poor boy a break.

Willing away the amused smirk that threatened to break out on his face, L decided to let Light off the hook, "So the King sealed the Evil Prince's aura into a royal heirloom and hid it somewhere no man would ever be able to find. The End... Sweet dreams, Raito-kun," L monotoned.

Light sighed. Finally, the detective was going to let him sleep! Stifling the yawn that almost came out, Light closed his eyes, drifting off into sweet oblivion, when the noisy click clack of a keyboard woke him up. Light twisted his head to glare cold murder at L.

L looked up from his keyboard to Light and declared in a conspiratory voice, "It is said that the person who touches the heirloom shall be possessed by the Prince's Evil aura...And yes, murderous intent at concerned friend, Raito-kun's percentage of being Kira has risen by 1.5%," and resumed his typing.

Light groaned and buried his head into his pillow. 'L is lucky that I'm not Kira,' Light thought, 'Or else I would kill L.'

-3-

It was that dream again, the dream about the time L and Light had been chained together, back when Light still hadn't regained his memories after giving up the Death Note. He always wondered what point L wanted to make by telling Light all of this, but he couldn't come up with a viable reason.

The brown-haired man groaned as his conscious returned to him. and moved his hands to rub at his eyes, the glare of the incandescent light bulb overhead burning at his retina, and hissed in pain at the IV pulling at his wrist. Squinting, he opened his eyes, only to find himself strapped securely to a chair.

He sat in the middle of a perfectly square-shaped room, with walls that were newly painted, and air that smelled excessively fresh and sterile, like a hospital room. It was void of furnishings other than the chair he was tied to (with those damnable handcuffs, he noticed, that jingled every time he made the slightest twitch, nonetheless) and the adjacent IV stand, a stainless steel table, and a twin chair across from him that was currently vacant of an occupant.

Looking around his peripheral vision, the man spotted a one way mirror on the far side of the square room, and felt more than determined the analytical eyes scrutinizing him, and anger bubbled up inside him like hot lava.

Light sneered.

If it was **another** one of those "I know Light-kun is Kira" interrogations, then L was gonna ….

Wait….L?

And the memories came crashing back to him: the warehouse…Near and his team….Mikami's stupid mistake….Matsuda….the idiot….shot him! And then…

"L!" Light croaked out, his voice coming out harsh and scratchy due to un-use, and sent him into a bout of coughing.

What is all of this? He was shot, right? He should be dead! Where is this? Is this Hell? No, Ryuuk said Death Note users can't go to Heaven or Hell…so is this...Mu?

When he finally recovered, his chest heaving due to his coughing fit, he raised his head to glare at the bottomless black pits that were the characteristic eyes of the apparently dead detective, L Lawliet.

"Welcome back, Kira."

Light flinched, and looked away.

This isn't possible! L should be dead! He shouldn't be slouching there, looking at him like Light disappointed him in the worst way possible, no way!

"Wondering why I'm still alive, Kira-kun?"

Light snapped his gaze back at the man. The man had the same calm, casual slouch, the same white t-shirt and faded blue jeans, the same unruly mop of black hair jutting out at irregular angles, and a thumb at the corner of his small, playful smile, and the previously scattered jigsaw puzzle pieces of confusion in his head clicked into place: 

L hadn't died. He had merely faked his death!

Infact, he had anticipated all of Kira's moves, and was always one step ahead!

Everything- from L's "death" up to Light's capture at the hands of Near at the warehouse, was a trap, a ploy, to get Light to confess to being Kira.

And Light knew why: the Death Note left no trace, no proof, no evidence behind, that L could use at the court to condemn Light. And added with Light's superior intelligence and cunning, it was untraceable- the perfect murder weapon! It was a tool so powerful that, revealed to the world or if it fell into the wrong hands, it could bring forth chaos and destruction unfathomable. The survival of Man could be at stake!

For the detective L, the only way out, was to get Light to confess to being Kira. And now he had it. Kira had been defeated, L had won!

But one thing still wasn't clear to him- why hadn't L died when Rem wrote down his name in her Death Note? ….unless…. "L Lawliet" wasn't L's name at all?! AND HE DIDN'T SEE IT COMING?

The subtle widening of Light's eyes, despite the otherwise impassive face, hadn't gone unnoticed by L, who answered the unasked question on his own accord, "Yes, Raito-kun, your assumption is correct.

"The Death Note had poisoned your mind and your senses. Your thoughts were not controlled and your actions were not rational. Kira made mistakes."

L paused at that, and Light knew he only did that to add drama and emphasis to his little monologue. So when he shuffled forward (barefoot, Light observed with barely hidden disgust) and sat in his usual crouch on the edge of the seat opposite Light's, it was all Light could do to not wrench his hand out of those damned handcuffs and just sock L in the face.

L, however, paid no heed to the murderous glare that was directed at him. He was already immune to all of Light's charms and charisma– after all, being handcuffed to his prime suspect for so long in the past had its perks. L could read Light like an open book, follow every thought process that whizzed past his brilliant mind, read his every emotion despite the fake masks Kira put on to manipulate and control situations, and could anticipate each and every of Light's moves. He had seen the look of regret and remorse that had appeared in Light's eyes, despite his attempts to hide them, at the mention of the Death Note and Kira. And then at the hint of his mistakes, that feeling of hurt and atonement was replaced by shock.

He couldn't believe it, his genius mind couldn't comprehend what L just said; it was not programmed to such an anomaly. For ever since his birth, Light was the best at everything, better than everyone. What the general masses took days to process, Light's mind deciphered in minutes, his actions were praised, his presence was acknowledged, he did what he deemed right, got what he wanted; his word was the absolute.

Because he was Light Yagami, and Light Yagami did not make mistakes.

Quietly, L pulled out a mini packet of gummy bears from his pocket, ripped a corner open with his nimble fingers, and tossed a couple into his mouth.

Light scoffed. L was testing his patience, he was sure of it. Even after all these years, even though the battle was over, and it was clear who the victor was, L was still going through the trouble of playing their little game, trying to see who would break first, to see whose mask would be the first to crack, whose pride would be the one to take a hit. Light wasn't sure whether he found it amusing or annoying, so it was through gritted teeth that he spoke out, "Enlighten me, Ryuuzaki-sensei."

A ghost of a smile flitted over L's face, whether it was due to surprise at Light still remembering the rules of their "game," or amusement at Light's choice of words, Light wasn't sure. But he didn't get much time to ponder it, for L resumed from where he had left off, "I will let you in on a little secret, Raito-kun, I will tell you of your biggest mistake:

"L do you know, _shinigamis_ like apples?"

Light raised an eyebrow. There was no way L could have guessed who Kira was from that titbit of information, no way!

"Remember when the first time the detective L confronted Kira on public television? The incident when you lost your temper and finished off Lind L. Tailor? I thanked you then, Raito-kun, for giving me the hint that there were those that Kira couldn't kill.

"That is when Raito-kun disclosed to me his true identity-that Kira was human. Kira was not an unstoppable force, neither a will of destiny, nor Karma. No, by being a Human that had achieved a supernatural tool, and thus a mortal, Raito-kun weakened his position and simultaneously strengthened my beliefs that Kira could, indeed, be stopped.

"Raito-kun disclosed that information thinking L-being the great and logical detective that he was- wouldn't believe in supernatural occurrences. Kira was merely trying to toy with L, to send him on a wild goose-chase.

"Unfortunately for you, Raito-kun, the Kira case isn't the only incident where I came across the existence of supernatural beings- the Los Angeles BB murder case was the first time I encountered a force beyond my capabilities. It was out of sheer bad luck that you chose to play that hand at that time. Had you not told me of shinigamis, Raito-kun, things could have been different...That, and the fact that I am an orphan." L brought his hand down, and adjusted his fingers to make his fist look like a pistol.

Light's eyes widened.

"Unfortunately for you … I have no name." L pointed the "gun" at Light's temple, and smiled.

"BANG!

-The End?-

~A/N #2~:

If you have survived so far...it's only fair you review, no? Thank you for reading everyone! *hugs and cute Light/L plushies for all of you lovelies!*


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